A Blood Stained Crown
by xxWolfsRosexx
Summary: Joker, Ace, Jack, and Queen are Role Holders who are bound to forever obey the King, but one day a Joker takes a leap of faith. But all of that was in the past, now Kotone, a girl living in Japan, finds the Deck of Cards and becomes the new Joker.
1. Prologue

**+A Blood-Stained Crown+**

**~Prologue~**

* * *

"Please…please spare me!" The voice's breath turned harsh and rapid, his haggard face pleading.

A grin appeared on the other man's face. "Why should I?" The Joker's smile became wicked.

"…" The man's breathing still continued, but turned into wheezing. The Joker impatiently tapped his long fingers on a nearby table.

"Please…" His strength was weakening. The wound was gushing with crimson-colored blood, dealt earlier as punishment.

"I'm still surprised that you can talk. Besides, I can't," Joker said curtly, "The King's orders are absolute."

The man hung his head in defeat, even if the Joker did not deal the finishing blow, he would still die from the wound. Hopeless, he cried, "At least destroy my card with that chain!" Joker's face turned serious and then back into the nefarious face that he wore everyday.

"Clever, aren't you? But it's a little too late; you've already passed down your role to your children." He leaned down to the bleeding man. "At least you know you'll die as a cunning man," Joker whispered. The man's skin was changing from normal to pale quickly. "You died the easiest."

The man's body gave out and hit the stone floor. "You're a Jack. Out of all of the 'Role Holders', you are the one with the easiest job ever. And yet, you couldn't do it. Of course, the King will give out an order to kill you." He was talking to a lifeless corpse, unable to understand those words.

_We can't escape, us Role Holders. Cursed to follow that tyrant's orders. _The Joker thought in his mind.

"Oh well it doesn't matter anymore." The Joker left the body alone and headed for the King.

**…**

_Tap, tap, tap. _

_Footsteps. I've always hated the sound of footsteps, it aggravates me, especially when I know 'he' can hear me. _Joker thought._ I hate the King for always breaking us down and destroying us, the Role Holders: Ace, Jack, Queen, and Joker. He's one too, but with more power-no, he has absolute power over us_.

The Joker arrived at the throne room. Covered in reds, golds, and whites, it intimidated him. The King and Queen Role Holders sat in the front, in oversized seats. He faced them with an emotionless mask to hide his disgust.

_In this world, our names mean nothing for they are bound to be replaced by our RH names._

He kneeled down on one knee as a gesture of loyalty. "My King, the deed is done. The Jack will no longer haunt you."

The Queen responded with astonishment, the King only laughed. _Even though she is blessed with beautiful long brown hair, I feel bad for her. She is too beautiful and too perfect. He doesn't deserve her. _"Ahahaha. Well done, Joker." His cackling laugh was obnoxious.

"Thank you, my King," Joker replied. _I'm bound so tightly. I hate him. Making me do his dirty work._

"That stupid Ace is giving me a hard time. Go kill him." The King's nonchalant look gave the order a higher disturbing level.

The Queen looked uncomfortable, quickly glancing at her fellow RH before assuming a passive face. _Again? _He had seen the flicker of emotion, passing through the features blessed with beauty, chained to the ugly foulness of the king. _Old rusting chains will forever cling to us as long as these cards exist._

"Of course," he said obediently, "my King." He rose from his stance and left swiftly. _What am I exactly? I shouldn't have left her there. The Queen needs to be rescued, as well as the rest, but I must obey the King's immediate orders. My body moves on its own as soon as it hears his awful words. The Queen's true role is to look over all of the cards and be the compassionate overseer. What is my role exactly?_

Something glowed in his pocket, and Joker reached for the object of light. It was the deck; a red deck of cards bound by a gold chain. One card was glowing, shining brightly compared to the others. He undid the chain and the card floated above the rest of the them, impossible to ignore.

It was the Ace card. _Why is it glowing? Does it know that I'm about to kill him…? Oh, right. It glows whenever I'm getting closer to the Role Holder I'm looking for._

What was this? Why was he forgetting? He wasn't afraid. No. It simply wasn't possible.

**…**

Next thing he knew, he had arrive at the Ace's house. The Ace is the assassin, assigned to rid the Card Holders who are unworthy to be part of the King's intelligence corps. The garbage man, like the Joker…

Unlike the Joker, he only killed those who held a numbered position. Most of the time, two through 5 numbered cards were almost eliminated at first sight. Card Holders were just used, used as mere pawns.

He reached out to the door, but hesitated, leaving his arm suspended in the air. He couldn't believe it. He was about to murder his best friend. But once again, the Kings' orders were engraved in his very blood, stronger than friendship. He was unable to be freed from the King's orders…

His hand, balled into a fist, knocked lightly on the door.

_Knock. Knock._

Faint footsteps were heard inside the house. A click and then a squeak. "Who is it?" The Joker winced slightly at the voice he knew so well.

"Ren…" Ace said. "Ren," Ace repeated, trying to confirm what he was seeing. Joker stared at him confusedly.

"Ah," Ace realized his mistake, "I mean Joker." He face went serious as he folded his arms.

His name. He had forgotten his name… It has been so long since anyone mentioned his name, his real one. "Joker" had replaced his old name as a new identity, leaving a complete void in his mind.

"What brings you to my domain?" Ace asked.

Hesitation.

It seemed endless to Joker, but he managed to break out a fake smile and pretended to be calm and composed. "I need to talk to you for a sec, may I come in?"

Ace nodded his head and led him into the wide house that was close to a mansion in size. "So what is it that you need to talk to me about?"

"…" He tried to speak, but nothing came out. His mouth was unable to produce sound.

"Let me guess, the King?" Joker nodded. His friend knew him well. "You're probably here to kill me correct?" Joker glanced at him, forgetting the fact that he is receiving information about everything at this very second. "I understand, but I have one question."

Joker regained his speech, "Okay…"

"Why didn't you just destroy my card to get rid of me?"

Joker's eyes widened. He would never hurt him, let alone destroy the card. But in fact he wanted to. He wanted to destroy everyone's card, but he couldn't only the King had the power to. _Am I just a card keeper? _Joker asked himself.

"It would have been more amusing for me to actually stab you." Joker smiled. "It would be boring to rid you of your role instead." Joker's grin started to look like the one he showed the Jack, but softer.

Ace looked at him, not at all intimidated, and said, "Why?"

That one word: why, it pierced his heart; He didn't know what he was doing. He lost his consciousness a long time ago.

"Idiot," Joker mumbled out loud, "Why do you always ruin everything."

"It's my job."

Silence.

"I want to ask you something. Have you ever thought about killing the king?" Joker's words were precise, clear-cut, and sharp. Ace, sensing something different in his words, turned his back to him.

"Thousands of times. Now go away."

"Will you…help me?"

"With what?" His back still faced Joker.

"Kanekurai, I need your help in killing him." Ace turned around once again to face him. His statement was completely genuine and commanding.

"My, my, the third generation Joker decides to rebel. This ought to be amusing." Ace smiled. "I see that you haven't forgotten my name."

_Those memories of those names, I thought that I had lost them… And yet, I can conjure up his name so quickly…_

"Yeah…" Joker replied, voice trailing off as he glanced away.

"Do you even have the proper plans in order to execute him?"

"Go die in a hole. Stop questioning me," Joker bellowed.

"Won't that stop your plans?" Ace asked calmly.

"I just told you to stop asking questions…Besides I already know what to do." Joker returned coolly.

Ace raised an eyebrow, his lips tightening into a thin line. "You're an idiot for even thinking about doing _that_." He told the Joker.

"Haha, I know." Joker smiled excitedly, completely prepared for what he was about to do.

* * *

…King's Castle…

"Good Evening, idiot King," Ace bowed with a grin.

The King's face turned sour; Ace's greeting obviously annoyed him. He sighed, and tapped his fingers on the armrest impatiently. "So, the Joker didn't take your life yet? How sad."

"Unfortunately not. In fact," Ace's hand moved slightly, revealing a sword, "I'll slaughter you, who gave the order, instead."

The Queen backed away slowly. The King still sat in his huge throne chair, clearly unmoved by his words. Ace dashed forward for the King's throat.

_Clang!_

"Joker?" Ace yelled out in surprise. Ace and Joker's swords clashed with each other, releasing sparks from the impact.

"I won't allow you to kill him," Joker stated. His face was devoid of emotion.

"Tch." Ace jumped backwards in recoil, his acting following the Joker's plan splendidly.

"This is _really_ interesting!" King laughed. He was still sitting in the chair with dignified grace, but was slightly jumpy from having a weapon turned on him..

"Shut up." Joker told him. "See this?" He held up his deck.

"The Deck of Cards, big deal," King said mockingly. He was arrogantly confident, believing no one could defy him.

A large, catlike grin appeared on Joker's face. "Ace is right…you are the 'idiot King'." The King frowned, slight anger coloring his eyes.

Joker slit his wrist with his lengthy sword, the flowing blood dripping onto the white marble floor. Joker took the chain and allowed the blood to drip onto it.

"What-what are you doing?" King asked fearfully, eyes wide as he half-stood from his throne.

"Sacrificing myself."

An air of silence loomed over them.

"The chain's purpose is to keep everything the same and in line. Once a Joker's blood touches this chain, it will get rid of the limits placed on him. The chain protects the cards within this deck…once broken, I will be able to destroy the cards."

The three Role Holders stood there in shock; even Ace did not expect this.

"Die." Joker's body started to glow faintly. The deck of cards started to glow as well, brighter than his body. Removing the King card from the deck, he slashed it into a million pieces.

At his card's destruction, the King started to cry, desperate, sobbing heaves ruining his dignified image. _Pathetic. _He was no longer the King.

Joker left the ex-King to weep on his own and approached the other Role Holders.

"Although I was successful…this comes with a high price. I will be entrapped within this chain until the next Joker appears. So this will be the last time I'll see you, Kanekurai…Arisu. But I will not die. A Joker can't die unless he doesn't have a deck of cards and the scarring chain. A Joker can only die when…"

* * *

Tamaki rose from his bed suddenly in a panic. "What was that?" He asked himself. "It was a dream wasn't it? It felt so real…" His face was moist from his sweat, his eyes slightly wide from such a realistic fantasy. He touched his face, to confirm that he wasn't in delirium.

Somewhat excited at such a detailed dream, he reached out for his phone and called someone.

"KYOUYA!" He yelled into the phone once the other end picked up. "You will never believe what happened to me! I dreamt about-"

"SHUT UP! DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!" Kyouya shouted back. Tamaki held the phone away from his ear, his friend's shouting voice ringing in his ears.

He looked at the digital clock sitting on his bedside table. "4 o'clock…" He said reluctantly.

"Yes, that's right. IN THE MORNING! Now shut the hell up and go to sleep!" Kyouya hung up the phone.

"Kyouya! Kyouya…?" Tamaki's robot expression took over his face, frowning at the fact that he didn't get a chance to share his dream.

…Meanwhile…

"Hmm? What's this?" A girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes spotted something black with her peripheral vision.

A black deck with a silver chain sat comfortably on her white bed, almost like it has been there for a long time.

The girl approached the ominous-looking deck and touch it carefully. Whispering sounds started to emanate from it; she took a step back and pulled her hand to her chest, staring at the strange object. She had never seen it before, but it was atop her bed as if it belonged to her…

"Kotone! Your cousins are here!" A voice yelled out from below.

The girl's frightened look disappeared. "Coming Mom!" She shouted back, heading for the door. As she opened it, she glanced back at the cards again, half-expecting it to…do something. Finally averting her gaze, she shut the door to her room, the black deck blending in with the shadows, and descended downstairs to greet her cousins.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review. Kanekurai is made up of "kane" meaning "putting together" or "money", and "kurai" meaning "dark"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Ouran works except for this story and its plot and characters like Kotone, Arisu, and Kanekurai.**

Special thanks to my Editor: Ann ^^

Click on the link below to review~


	2. Chapter 1 Too Many of Them

Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC and its characters. I only own my plot and character, Kotone.

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Chapter 1 Too Many of Them

"Ko…to…ne…" The Deck of Cards was murmuring her name. Kotone raised an eyebrow as she heard the soft, yet harsh, voice. Something was off.

"Yeah?" She asked the cards. It seemed like the deck was an actual person, at least it was to her.

The deck went silent…Kotone just stared. Usually she would hear his stories non-stop with feelings out curiosity and wanting to know more. She had been listening to it for weeks. It told her about the originals, the idiot King, his best friend Ace, the hopeless Jack, and the Queen that it spoke so fondly of. She always felt at ease with it as if she had known the deck since birth.

"J…"The deck spoke again.

Kotone became confused. "J?" _It seems weaker, almost like the voice had a hint of guilt in it. _

"Jack…" The deck started to radiate in an intense white color, almost blinding her. It never did this before, not in front of her.

She grabbed the deck from her desk made out of wood, which was painted into a dark blue shade. She touched the chain and winced. The chain felt cold…icy. She slowly undid the small silver chain…tugged at it and let the deck rest in her hands.

A card…no two…three…four cards shined brightly were hovering over the other cards. She reached for all four cards and studied them. Queen, two Jacks, and an Ace appeared on the cards. She smiled. After all of those seemingly never-ending stories, she's finally going to see it for herself. She had set one goal and _only _one goal for herself.

"Where are they?" She asked boldly. An invisible smile found its way to the old Joker. The Deck of Cards tapped into her mind and showed her the way, from her house to Ouran High School, the Role Holders' current sanctuary…for now.

_Perfect._

_...Ouran High School..._

_Ring!_

"Class, settle down." The sensei ordered. The students were still chattering amongst themselves. "Hello!" The teacher yelled out. "That was the bell. Now sit down." They hurried to their seats, one by one. "We have a new transfer student joining us today!" The brisk sound of shuffling ended. "Come on in," the sensei gestured a girl to enter the classroom.

The girl went into the large classroom all filled with anxious students. The girl had long flowing blonde hair and had hazel eyes that shimmered in the classroom's lights. A smile that almost looked rehearsed, but still genuine, played with her lips. She didn't wear the usual girl's uniform; instead she wore the male uniform.

"Please introduce yourself to the class."

The girl faced the curious students. She was careful in choosing her words. "I'm Kotone Haninozuka. I transferred into Ouran because of a personal matter. Please take care of me, desu~." She ended with a cute smile and eyes closed into half-moons. She left the others speechless in an almost trance-like state.

"Why don't you go ahead and take a seat next to the Hitachiin brothers?" The teacher pointed to the two redheads sitting next to each other.

"Okay," she said sweetly.

She walked gracefully in step, almost like she was bouncing up and down. Kotone sat down and the brother's presence immediately caught her eye. _Jacks. _

"Hi, I'm Kotone. What are your names?" Each word rehearsed like a play.

"I'm Hikaru," one of them said. "And I'm Kaoru," the other replied. She was confused. They looked exactly the same, but it didn't matter, she was going to dispose them sooner or later.

"Nice to meet you." He deck gave her a weird feeling that was indescribable.

"The Queen is near," it spoke, but was oddly only heard by her.

"Is it that girl over there?" She talked to the deck with her mind while mentally pointing towards a girl across the room. The cards shivered in response. "Then where?"

"Hey!" One twin snapped at her. "We asked you a question." She didn't have time for questions, but her face turned into that fake cheery smile.

"Oh, sorry. Sometimes I space out. What was your question again, desu?"

"Why are you wearing the male uniform?" Hikaru asked.

"Aren't you a girl?" Kaoru asked quickly after Hikaru's question.

"The principal allowed me to wear the male uniform. I really didn't like those weird, yellow, poofy dresses that all girls have to wear."

They gave that blank-slash-confused face. They shook their heads and laughed.

"Oh, by the way, are you related to Honey Haninozuka?" They asked in unison.

"Yeah. Actually, he's my cousin."

"Eh? You are Honey-senpai's cousin?" The twins chorused.

"Of course, she's related to Honey-senpai," a calm voice said. "She had the last name to prove it, and the resemblance."

The cards whispered sharply, "Her…" Kotone frowned. The guy that was sitting close to her turned out to be a girl...and she didn't expect the Queen to be so down to earth and not haughty at all.

"Then you MUST visit the host club!" They sang together.

"Why?" Her voice was slightly harsh. She was skeptic towards Jacks, since the Deck of Cards told her about their jobs. They were only used for persuasion and manipulation for the King's purposes even if the King didn't exist for now.

"You can visit Honey-senpai there," Haruhi answered, "You can come by after school."

"Okay!" Kotone replied. "…Queens are too polite…" Kotone muttered under her breath.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Haruhi asked.

Kotone gave her an apologetic look, "No." Haruhi shrugged.

Before anyone knew it, it was already the end of the school day, releasing all of their stress on school.

"Hey…" The twins whispered as they were sneaking up on Kotone.

"Huh? Wha-What are you doing?" Kotone said, surprised. Kaoru and Hikaru managed to grab Kotone by both of her arms.

"Bringing you to the host club!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"No running away now," Kaoru said. _Why me? _She thought and hung her head in defeat.

The brothers brought Kotone to the famous 'Music Room 3' where all of their host club activities were held. Kotone tilted her head slightly. _Isn't this a place where you play instruments…and not where you become hosts to serve others?_

The twins pulled open the double doors and a sudden smell of sweets and flowers had hit her.

They stood in front of her and chorused, "Welcome to the Host Club!"

Everyone froze in time. Instead of continuing their activities, they stared at the girl near the door. Apparently, their big announcement reached the rest of the customers, drawing their attention.

"…Hello…?" She said, hesitantly.

"Follow us!" They said. She had no choice in this matter…she was already being dragged towards Honey. "Honey-senpai! Guess who came to visit!"

Honey gobbled up the piece of cake on his silver fork. He looked up to see his cousin. "Koto-chan!" He exclaimed with a big smile on his face.

Mori reached over to wipe some pink frosting off of Honey's face. Kotone suddenly heard something in the back, "Moe~" _What a weird place…_

"Ne, ne, Koto-chan, what are you doing here?" He asked. "Ho? Why are you wearing the boys' uniform, Koto-chan?"

"Well…I find the boys' uniform to be a lot more comfortable than the other one. Dad's work got transferred, so we moved here." Kotone answered. She smiled, but this time it was genuine.

"Oh, okay!" Honey went back to eating his vanilla cake with strawberry icing, topped off with a single fresh red strawberry. All of a sudden, he stopped. He got up from his chair and walked over to Kyouya, whispering in his ear. Everyone watching in the background could see Kyouya's irritated frown.

"Due to some unfortunate circumstances, we will close the rest of the Host Club's activities for today," Kyouya announced. A bunch of fan girls moaned and groaned while saying, "Aw…"

"Honey-senpai…this will be the last time I'll stop the club's activities if you continually ask me favors…"

"Okay, Kyo-chan~" Honey said, his smile still held on. "Mina-san!" The hosts looked up. "This is Koto-chan, my cousin!"

"The one standing next to me is Kyouya!"

"Welcome…" Kyouya's anger still lingered.

"You already know that tall one over there is Takashi, but everyone calls him Mori." "Ah." Mori said.

"Nice to meet you," She responded.

"And this is Tamaki!" He pointed towards the tall blonde male blessed with eyes in a pleasant color of purple.

Tamaki pulled out a rose from thin air, "Welcome to the host club." his entire being was sparkling before their eyes. "You have a quite beautiful face."

"Ahaha…Yeah, thank you." Tamaki was exactly how she pictured the old King RH to be, but…he wasn't a Role Holder, instead he was a really weak CH, Card Holder. (He was a two.)

She had already figured out each of them with the Deck of Cards help. Mori was a powerful CH, a ten card. The twins were Jacks. Kyouya…seemed to be the Ace. And Haruhi…was the Queen? She was still unsure of Haurhi's role. But what really stumped her was Honey's role. He didn't have one, according to the cards, but it seemed like he did…

Her only problem now was: how is she going to kill them all with this many people around? She wanted to get rid of the Jacks, the most annoying and unimportant part of the deck first. Her goal is completely deadly, dangerous, and reckless.

Honey tilted his head, and put his index finger close to his lips. Something had caught his eye. He was staring at the floor beneath her feet. "Koto-chan, what's that?" He quickly walked over and picked it up. Honey was shocked on the inside, but didn't show it to the others. He was eyeing it curiously. "Hmm…"

She looked at her short cousin. Her eyes widened as she noticed the black and silver colors. _The Deck of Cards. _"Kuni," she had always called him that, "Can I have that back? Thank you for picking it up, desu~."

"Ne?" Honey broke out of his trance. "Of course!" His bright smile returned.

_Why did he…Nah, it probably doesn't mean anything._

Honey extended his arm towards Kotone while she did the same.

"Oi~ What's this?" Hikaru quickly grabs the odd-looking cards. "A chain? Is it something important?" He started to toss it up and down.

"Eh? Wait! Stop!"

"Hey, Kaoru! Catch!" Hikaru threw it over to Kaoru and he copied Hikaru's movements.

"Hikaru. Kaoru." Her voice sounded dark. Her bangs were casting a dark shadow over her eyes. It sent chills up their spines. "Give it back." The twins suddenly froze. They couldn't help it, they ended up giving it back. Her fake smile appeared again. "Thank you!"

"Amazing!" Tamaki shouted out. "I can't even get those two to listen to me!"

_Interesting…_Kyouya thought in his head as he hastily jotted down more notes.

_That's you guys get. _Haruhi thought in her mind.

Mori looked down at Honey. Something was wrong. "Mitsukuni." Mori said in his deep voice.

Honey was gripping onto Usa-chan a little too tightly. "Ne?" His face returned to its normal loli-shota state.

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**A/N: Second chapter =] Please Review**

**Special Thanks to my editor, Ann, again~**

**_Omake:_**

_"OMG WHAT'S WRONG?" Kotone asks the deck. The deck is silent. "Do you need water? You sound a little hoarse." Silence. Kotone runs to her kitchen to get a glass of water and heads back. "Here." She extends her arm holding the glass of water expecting it to take the glass..."Oops...I forgot. Here you go!" SPLASH! The deck is completely soaked with water._

_"Forget it. I'm done with this." The deck said turning into the Joker._

_Kotone: OMFG! YOU'RE HOT!_

_Joker: ... *stares and then leaves*_

_Kotone: Oh, well. *looks in her drawer* *takes out a pack of playing cards* *Can you turn into a bishie too?_

_...outside..._

_Joker: So I f*cking took down the friggin' King a century ago and all I get is a stupid teenager that doesn't do anything but throw water on me. FML... _

_Joker: *Joker heads back inside.*Here, why don't you drink some? Oh right, you're out of water 'cause you effing threw all of it on me!_

_Kotone: WATERR FIIIIGHT! *pulls out water guns*_

_Joker: YEAH? I GOT REAL GUNS! *pulls out pistols* F*ck! They're out of bullets!_

_Kotone: *grins evilly* *Shoots water at Joker*_


	3. Chapter 2 Appear For Me

**Chapter 2: Appear For Me**

"Where was it again?" Kotone was wandering aimlessly throughout the halls. "Ugh, why does this school have to be so big and complicated!" Her short temper overtook her as she folded her arms in frustration. She stomped her foot at the cold, marble floor and stared at her blurry reflection surrounded by numerous lights from every direction.

"Hmm? Seems that you're lost." A familiar voice said. Kotone turned around to see who it was… "Don't tell me that you've already forgotten about me." A fake business smile arose. It was a host with the same uniform with glasses affixed on his face, it rested gently on the bridge of his nose. His pen was scratching out words on his notebook as usual. He stopped walking a few feet away to speak to her, but kept his focus on his notes. Obviously notes were of more importance than a mere girl wandering around Ouran.

"Oh, Kyouya." She tried to look as cute as she can and imitated a puppy as close as she could. Lips pouted, eyes widened, and sparkles in her eyes. All she needed was a pair of ears and a tail to complete it. While displaying her signature cute look, she asked, "Can you help me find the Host Club's room again, desu?"

"…" _Scratch, scratch, scratch. _Kyouya didn't react, he didn't even look up . The host simply continued writing down notes while ignoring the stupid girl. Apparently, adorable charms don't work on him.

Realizing that her method wasn't working, she resorted to another one. Tilting her head slightly, she yelled out in a little girl's voice, "Hewwo?"

"It won't work," He said bluntly. His pen still connected to the papers held by the notebook. It was flying across the page, recording every last mark that the host makes.

"Eh?" An imaginary question mark appeared above her head.

"Your act, that is."

"What act?"

"We both know that we're both acting right now, isn't that correct?" The pen's noises came to a halt. Kyouya looked at her in disgust, and yet in a respectful way.

She noticed his serious tone but dismissed it to keep up her image. Kotone just gave a cute look. "What do you mean?"

"Hmph." Kyouya started walking towards her with the notebook at his side and his pen in the notebook, marking his place so that he can return to the page he was working on. His long strides reached her fairly quickly.

"What are you gonna do? Get the truth out of me by fear?" Kotone laughed, but he walked right past her. The clicks and taps of the shoes started to become gradually quieter. She cringed. She didn't like being ignored, it annoyed her too much.

"Why would I care about that?" Kyouya said, still walking away. "I already know everything about you."

"That's impossible," she said with a smile. It was odd…it had some sort of mischievous component to it. "But you probably know 99.99% of my life, right Ace?" Hiding her sarcasm with a small smile. She spun around to face the unknowing Role Holder.

He stopped in his tracks. "Ace?" He didn't dare turn back or at least he didn't want to. She was too much to deal with.

"Ah, never mind. Hehe. You're probably headed for the music room now, so I'll follow you." Kyouya sighed, but the taps started appearing again as he walked. Kotone tried to catch up with swift steps, but ended up falling behind because of Kyouya's long strides. It was obvious that he wasn't going to slow down.

"Tell me about yourself." She said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"…" He didn't answer, instead he looked back and glared at her. She pouted in response. It soon faded as they reached the legendary door…

"We're here," Kyouya stated. Both his tone and expression were emotionless. He placed the notebook on his arm again and equipped his writing hand with his pen.

Every host welcomed Kotone again. Each with big flashy smiles except for Mori and Kyouya. Haruhi's was a normal smile, both genuine and real. It was the end of the club activities so each one of them were relaxing and doing their usual activities. Honey got up from his little pink table filled with empty plates piled up on one another and moved closer to Kotone.

"Ne, ne, Koto-chan. Can I see those cards that you had yesterday?" Honey asked.

"No, Kuni-chan." Her "cute" act was still switched to "on". It was her way of avoiding or hiding from others.

He took 2 big steps closer. Honey put on his adorable puppy face and started to stare at Kotone.

"No."

Stare.

"No."

Honey was still staring at her. The rest of the hosts watched, well except for Kyouya. He was doing something on the computer and seemed to be really invested into the brightly lit piece of plastic.

"No." Honey sensed a small hint of weakness and amped up his cuteness factor by 100 percent. "Uhhh…"

"Pwease~Koto-chan?" He asked again. A sweat drop appeared on her head.

"No…" She winced a little at his maximum cuteness persuasion. Even though she has known him since birth, she could never say no to a cute child. If they were ever in a contest deciding who would be the cutest, most irresistible person, then Honey would win. "Uh…" Instead of answering she hung her head in defeat. Defeated, she reached into her pockets, feeling for that cold metallic touch. She finally found it and took it out. "Here." She gave him her chained deck, the Deck of Cards.

"What's this chain for?" Honey asked. "It's sooooo shiny!" He caressed it slightly. A slight spark bit into Honey's finger. "Ow."

Shocked, both Honey and Kotone jumped back a little…and then were blown backwards by some unseen force! Honey dropped the cards as he was skidding across the floor. A few marks tainted the glimmering floor causing it to be dull.

"W-what?" Now everyone was curious, even Kyouya turned his attention to them. Kotone was pushed back to one side of the room while Honey was thrown to the other side. "Owww…." Kotone was rubbing her head. Honey sat there in the corner…like a lifeless doll.

"Mitsukuni?" She whispered, but could barely be heard.

"Honey-senpai! Kotone-chan!" The hosts yelled. The hosts split into two groups while rushing towards them. Mori couldn't decide between his two cousins, but ended up going after Honey first.

"Mitsukuni."

"…"

"Hm." Mori picked him up and started for the door, but turned back to stare at the injured girl.

"Go, Mori-senpai," Haruhi told Mori, "we'll take care of Kotone."

"Hey, are you okay?" Kaoru asked.

"Ugh…I feel like shit." Kotone mumbled incoherently making them think that she said 'shoe'. The hosts just stared.

"You feel like 'shoe'?" Hikaru asked.

"Heeyyy…" The hosts in front of her started turning into blurry figures. Her head started to feel heavy like lead. In the attempt of making out a few words, her head dropped to the floor keeping her mouth opened and without letting any sounds leave.

"HEY! HEY! WAKE UP!" The twins were shaking her gently. "C'mon…" The body was soon being thrown about through their efforts, but it didn't help.

In the back, the deck started to move little by little, crawling on the floor. Suddenly, the deck shook violently, yet everyone failed to notice it before dematerializing into the air…leaving no trace of itself behind.

They waited in their hospital room. Both Kotone and Honey were lying in bed lifeless, as if they were in a coma. Mori was still staring at both of his cousins. Mori's eyes widened a little as he saw a slight movement in them.

Kotone flinched as her eyebrow twitched slightly. She looked as if she was clenching her teeth in her sleep. Honey sat up silently, but slowly.

"Where am I?" Honey asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Mitsukuni." Mori said out of relief.

"You're at a hospital, Honey-senpai," Kyouya answered.

"Oh…" Honey looked around. "Where's Koto-chan?" He stopped as he looked across from him. There she was sleeping.

"She's been out for awhile now."

Honey looked outside the window and thought, that deck was definitely-

"Wahhh!" Kotone got up quickly and was panicking. Her breathing was heavy. "Where…where am I?"

"Hospital," Kyouya answered.

"I gotta get home," she said, rising from her bed.

"You have to rest," Haruhi said.

"I don't. I'm fine, ne?" Kotone told her, but was trying to tell the rest of them the same thing. She headed for the door, but stopped close to Kyouya. "Thank you for letting me use this room." And walked outside.

"Koto-chan…" Honey whispered.

…_Kotone's House…_

"What was that about…?" She asked herself.

(flashback: "Its sooo shiny!" Honey touches the chain. Kotone and Honey are thrown backwards.)

_Why…_She shook her head. She wanted to focus on finding her missing deck and not on trivial things like that. She noticed that it was gone when she left the hospital and went back to Ouran to find it, but it had disappeared. _Now where is it? Where could it be?_ She went home in hopes of finding it there.

She finally gave up after looking all over the house…then she suddenly remembered that she hasn't checked her own room!

"IT'S GOTTA BE UP THERE!" She told herself running up the stairs. She opened her door quickly letting the wind blow into her face.

She looked inside and the first thing she sees is…a person. A guy was sitting on her bed, nonchalantly.

"Eh? AHHHHHH!" She screamed as she saw the young looking man rise from the bed.

He walked towards her. "SHHHH!" He covered her mouth with his hand. "Don't scream!"

Kotone glares at him. _Who the hell is this…?_

"OW! WHAT THE-!" He blew on his hand. "Why did you bite me? You haven't realized who I am yet?"

"A ninja?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Silence."Ahahahha…" He laughed but stopped abruptly as he saw her serious face. "Oh, right...It's me, the Joker. Or at least, the voice coming from that deck you have." Joker said.

"…Pfft!"

"Heh? What's so funny?"

"Are you seriously kidding me? That's nearly impossible. Plus somehow I lost that deck."

"It's right here." He took out the black deck and showed it to her.

"That's not mine. Mine has a chain that wraps around it…"

"I'm the chain."

"Hahahaha! Stop joking around, you burglar. Just get what you want to steal and get outta my house!" Kotone yelled out.

"Idiot," he said. Now he couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth. Really? Letting a someone rob you of your belongings when you already know that there is one right in front of you. She _really_ was an idiot. He scoffed and lifted the deck. The deck started to glow and rise into the air. Three cards appeared.

"Wha-How are you doing that?" Kotone watched in disbelief.

"I told you I'm the Joker that talks to you…" He flipped the cards to show their faces to Kotone. Kotone gasped. "These cards shouldn't exist. They would never exist, but yet they're here. You see these cards? These are three Joker cards. This is the first time I've seen my own card. I guess the deck created these cards since it's probably confused from all of the Jokers existing in this time period."

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC and its characters. I only own my plot and character, Kotone.

A/N: Apparently…I've already had this chapter done for awhile…it's not in the best quality so I hope you can forgive me…I'll make sure that the next update will be way better.


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